I mentioned on Facebook a few days that 2011 wasn't such a bad year for me. For once, I don't have to curse on the current year and "don't let the door hit you on the way out!". Nope, I have no complaints and it feels nice. It wasn't spectacular, I didn't get to go anywhere new or take a real vacation like I had hoped but it was still busy and fun. I spent more time making my business work and working on my craft. Thanks 2011! I got nothing bad to say about ya! However, I'm hoping this mean that 2012 will be awesomesauce. I'll do everything in my power to make it so.

I wanted to continue what I started on Tuesday with my 2011 Year End Review in Pictures. I last left off in June so let's get to July!

July

Went to Governor's Island for the first time

August

Rust Riot!

Ten year anniversary with Mike

September

Not much went on in September, I got Moo cards

October

First visit to Storm King

Halloween Time in the city

November

Meet The Breeds at the Jacob Javits Center, got to play with a lot of cute doggies

December

It's my Birthday Month!

I also started a Flickr collection "Life in Instagram" where I will be sharing more photos and making use of this wonderful app. Right now I only have one set in the collection on Flickr (December) but more will be added each month. I am not disciplined enough to do a 365 challenge but a few shots a month I can handle.

I have seen other blogs do monthly recaps which is kind of cool. I don't think I'll be doing that BUT I love sharing pictures and taking more fun pictures now thanks to apps like Instagram & Pixlromatic. I wanted to take a look back at some of my favorite pictures taken throughout the year.

January

Grand Opening of Darkside Records in Poughkeepsie, best place to get music in the Hudson Valley

I started to teach myself how to knit (with the help of YouTube and some friends)

February

I got my iPhone!

I went to a photoshoot for Inc Magazine on their feature for Etsy. I took this picture while I was waiting to be called.

Mike participated in a Valentine's Day art show in Kingston, NY

March

I signed up for Indie Business 3.0 and it was so wonderful. Learned so much and made some nice friends in the process. :)

April

I took this on the way to a Newsweek Magazine reunion - it's the American Museum of Natural History

Spring Craft Fair in Beacon, NY! Although it was a little chilly and rainy

May

A nice walk in Beacon

Trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was blown away by the Alexander McQueen exhibit

Bust Spring Craftacular

Starting to get warmer, time for a Vanilla Milkshake!

June

I went up to Hudson, NY to check out Etsy's new Customer Service location and to hang around this cute little town.

I think this is a nice place to stop. There's no way I can do an entire year in one post. Tomorrow I'll finish off July through December.

Yesterday I was so caught up in my own birthday hype that I didn't really speak much about my weekend doing Yelp's Giftacular Market.

My setup was sweet thanks to Kathy from Gnorasaurus for letting me use one of her panels to hang my necklaces.

I am considering getting one (maybe not as high) and use it as part of my display, some wallspace can't hurt. The bags I had at Pulp Sushi have sold so Kathy gave me a restock, new bags will be added soon!

As far as stress level goes for a Holiday show, there was practically none. The folks at Yelp did such a fantastic job putting this together and making the space comfortable for the vendors and shoppers. There were plenty of free snacks and drinks.

There were these neat inflatable couches throughout the space. Here's Nordea from Nordea's Soaperie with Kelly from Aperture Agog testing it out. It was great getting to do a show with my friends in the city again.

Saturday was busy! A good steady flow of people throughout the day. I would have been happy if it was just the one day. Sunday I was tired (because I went to see Twisted Sister the night before...yeah you read that right). Sunday was also FREEZING and as busy as SoHo can be, on a super cold day the foot traffic is a little less. But the experience was still awesome and I hope they do it again next year and will be willing to have me.

They should be honored to share this special day with me. This pic was taken of me this past weekend at Yelp's Giftacular - my hair was wet so I threw my hat on. The show was so much fun! For a show, it was so well organized, spaced out, friendly, I didn't have to crawl under my table in order to get out, had a blast! Saturday was definitely the busier day but that's ok, Sunday gave me more time to chat it up with friends. I was loving having that grid wall to hang some necklaces and signs from (Thanks Kathy!), thinking about getting a panel. But it's good to finally exhale from the Holiday rush and just kick back for a week or two before I reopen everything again.

Oh yeah, birthday! Right! I have no idea what is in store for me today, other than I have a dinner date tonight at one of my favorite restaurants. Can't wait!

It's the big one! The big two day last minute holiday shopping extravaganza eleganza! Yelp Giftacular Holiday Market! I've never been to a Yelp event before let alone participate in one as a vendor. This is Yelp's first Holiday Market too so it's a first for everyone! Awww young love! :) Look for Pulp Sushi and Gnorasaurus as we mesh both of our booths into one 20x10 space of GNORASUSHI GOODNESS! Can you tell I'm amped? I have been fortunate to have participated in two great holiday fairs back to back this month so I'm hoping to keep that momentum going and end the season with a big bang. Will share it goes next week!

Oh, if you happen to reading this and you're planning on stopping by, mention the blog and I'll hook you up! :)

Remember back in February when I signed up for Indie Business 3.0? Probably one of the best decisions I've ever made with regard to working on my business. Earlier this week it was annouced that the new e-course for 2012 is open for registration! If just opened your open or you're seriously thinking about taking your hobby to the next level, this course provides some wonderful tools to help you on your way.

Since December 1st, I haven't been doing much on the jewelry-making front and I'm totally fine with that. I wanted to take a break from it as I felt like I have exhausted myself mentally. Except for one thing which I'm not quite ready to share just yet. I will say this, in 2012 I hope to launch my first COLLECTION! Like full blown necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. I have to make them all first. Right now they're just visions in my brain and scribbles in my little book but I can't wait to see it come to life. Supplies are being shipped to me as we speak!

I'm still keeping my hands busy. Since I received a copy of Embroider Everything Workshop, I have been practicing some of my stitching and enjoying this new experience of drawing with a needle and thread. Here's my attempt at a backstitch and Feather stitch. I did a flower!

This may be a new (and fun) way to keep myself busy when I do craft fairs. I would work on making more jewelry but I'm nervous I'll spill my beads and supplies everywhere. In Beacon this past weekend I spent some time just doing random stitches getting the hang of it, I'm most proud of the Brighton stitch in the center (the blocks), so much I can do with that!

Who knows, maybe soon I will have things available that feature some embroidery on it. :)

Wow! What a fun day Saturday turned out to be. If I was at the Bust Craftacular instead, I would probably be a little stressed out and way tired. I made the right decision. Although I did need an extra day to recuperate.

Space was very limited for the vendors and this has to be my smallest display yet, but I think I made it work and it came out cute. I wasn't as tired at the end of the day like I usually am because this time I made a conscious effort to SIT DOWN! My nerves usually makes me jittery and I have to stand and "Be On!" for customers. This time, I just sat back, did a little embroidery - still acknowledged everyone who came to my table of course, and yay! It worked! My back and legs weren't killing me at the end of the day.

It's so nice to spend the day at a craft fair when you are surrounded with friends. Just like last week at Bard College, one of the many benefits of being a part of a local Etsy Team. Online teams are great, but sometimes it's nice to meet people and make new friends and do cool things like put together your own craft fair.